by The SUN
Tsui advises recovered patients to just get a third jab instead of belatedly reporting a past RAT result |
Health officials have urged
people to get a third vaccine dose instead of reporting past infections to try
and get an exemption from the vaccine pass scheme, as the number of Covid cases
jumped to 505 on Wednesday from just over 300 the previous day.
Among the new cases, 151 were
confirmed through PCR tests, while 354 were positive rapid antigen test results
reported to a government platform. Thirty-four cases were imported.
Dr Edwin Tsui, controller of
the Centre for Health Protection noted that the reported positive RAT results make
up 70% of the total number of cases for the day, which is much higher than
usual.
This is seen to suggest that
some people are trying to report past infections to obtain a QR code exempting
them from having three vaccine doses so they could enter various designated premises
under the vaccine pass scheme.
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"I would like to remind
the public, if you didn't test positive on the day, don't use our self-report
platform to report your case," Tsui said at the daily Covid press
briefing.
"If you want a recovery
record or to satisfy the vaccine pass, the best way is to get jabbed, then you
will be alright,” he added.
“It’s safe to be vaccinated
after more than one month of being infected.”
Tsui said all other
indicators of the severity of infections remain stable, including
hospitalization and mortality rates and the amount of virus found in sewage
samples, so the biggest caseload surge in the daily caseload could have only
come from many “false positive” cases.
Tsui that in the past few
months, the daily false positive rate was around 7 percent, but in recent days
it has risen to between 15 to 38 percent.
Dr Chuang Shuk-wan, head of
CHP’s infectious disease section, was more forthright.
“We don’t rule out the possibility
that there is misleading or false information supplied,” Chuang said.
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“May I remind you that if you
knowingly or deliberately supplied the Department of Health with misleading
information under Cap 599 it’s an indictable offense punishable at level 3
penalty, or up to six months in prison.”
Chuang warns providing false information could land you in jail for up to 6 months |
Among the imported infections,
11 were caught at the airport, 14 during the 7-day hotel quarantine, and the
rest after the patients had rejoined the community.
Chuang reported that four
more cases were added to the outbreak at Zentral bar, raising the tally so far to
31. At Iron Fairies, the tally went up to 49 after two staff and 15 customers also
tested positive for Covid.
There were an additional 39
new cases reported by 35 schools. They include 24 students and 15 teachers and
staff from seven kindergartens, 12 primary schools, and 20 secondary schools.
The city’s caseload from the
fifth wave of infections has now gone up to 1,200,573, with a related death
toll of 9,166.
Dr Gladys Kwan of the
Hospital Authority said one more Covid patient died today, an 88-year-old woman
who was chronically ill and was bedridden.
Kwan said 392 patients are
being treated in hospitals, and among them, 10 are in critical condition, with five
being admitted to intensive care; while eight are in serious condition.
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